Business and economic news for the Santa Barbara region

Coast Village Road Closed Again

The Dec. 9 flooding through Montecito shut down Coast Village Road again.

For the second time in about a month, Santa Barbara’s Coast Village Road has been closed – this time from flooding and debris flow, which lead to the deaths of at least 18 people as of Jan. 12, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

The road, which is finger-shaped commercial district stretching into unincorporated Montecito, was closed last month before Christmas because of the approaching Thomas fire. Like downtown State Street, Coast Village was hit by smoke and ash for days. Coast Village reopened just before Christmas.

However, the Jan. 9 flooding didn’t affect State Street as it did Coast Village, which was covered with a couple of feet of mud, water and debris on that day.

Coast Village is home to about 10 restaurants, some small, high-end boutiques, several financial services companies, two small markets, two gas stations, some apartment buildings and a hotel. Some offices are situated of the road in back of the southside store fronts.

Since it is within the city limits, Santa Barbara will lose more sales tax revenue like what it lost in December. Estimates are still being developed on that.

The cleanup on Coast Village, which stretches from Hot Springs Road to Olive Mill Road, could take days if the rain and more flooding occurs. But cleanup crews with skip loaders already began the process shortly after the flooding stopped and a break in the weather occurred on the afternoon of Dec. 9.